Folding high chair

ABSTRACT

A folding high chair has a seat assembly, a connection assembly, a support assembly and a rear stand assembly. The seat assembly has a seat and a backrest connecting pivotally to the seat. The connection assembly is mounted on the seat. The support assembly is mounted pivotally on the connection assembly. The rear stand assembly connects pivotally to the support assembly. The seat assembly, support assembly and rear stand assembly are substantially parallel to one another when the folding high chair is folded. Therefore, the folding high chair may be changed into a compact folded configuration convenient for carrying and storage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a chair, and more particularly to afolding high chair that may be folded into a compact configuration forcarrying and storage of the folding high chair.

2. Description of Related Art

High chairs are used for young children or infants and comprise longlegs to ensure children are in view, at a convenient height for feedingand participating in activities, especially during meals.

Conventional high chairs are foldable and have a folding mechanism.However, the folding mechanism comprises many components so iscomplicated to use, the legs are long so prevent easy storage andtransportation and are not easily height adjustable so are inconvenientto use.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a foldinghigh chair to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a folding high chairthat may be folded into a compact configuration for carrying and storageof the folding high chair.

A folding high chair in accordance with the present invention comprisesa seat assembly, a connection assembly, a support assembly and a rearstand assembly. The seat assembly has a seat and a backrest beingconnected pivotally to the seat. The connection assembly is mounted onthe seat. The support assembly connects pivotally to the connectionassembly. The rear stand assembly connects pivotally to the supportassembly. The seat assembly, support assembly and rear stand assemblyare substantially parallel to one another when the folding high chair isfolded. Therefore, the folding high chair may be transformed easily intoa compact folded configuration, convenient for carrying and storage.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a folding high chair in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the folding high chair in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the folding high chair in FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the folding high chair in FIG.2;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the folding high chair in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side view in partial section of the folding high chair inFIG. 5, showing positioning slots of a leg;

FIG. 7 is a side view in partial section of the folding high chair inFIG. 5, showing a friction surface of an outer cylinder;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged side view in partial section of the folding highchair in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side view in partial section of the folding highchair in FIG. 5, showing internal elements of a connecting element;

FIG. 10 is another enlarged side view in partial section of the foldinghigh chair in FIG. 5, showing internal elements of a connection member;

FIG. 11 is an operational side view of the folding high chair in FIG. 1,shown partially folded seat assembly; and

FIG. 12 is an operational side view of the folding high chair in FIG.11, shown completely folded.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a folding high chair in accordance withthe present invention comprises a seat assembly (10), a connectionassembly (20), a support assembly (30) and a rear stand assembly (40).

With further reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 8 the seat assembly (10)comprises a seat (11), a backrest (12) and may further have a leg rest(13).

The seat (11) has an upper surface, a bottom surface, a front end, arear end, two opposite sides and two armrests and may further have acrossbar (113). The armrests are formed respectively on and protruderespectively from the upper surface at the sides. The crossbar (113) ismounted on the bottom of the seat (11) near the front end.

The backrest (12) is mounted pivotally on the rear end of the seat (11),is capable of pivoting forward to fold onto the seat (11) and has afront, a rear, a top end, a bottom end and a locking protrusion (121).The bottom end is mounted pivotally on the rear end of the seat (11).The locking protrusion (121) is formed on and protrudes away from therear at the bottom end.

The leg rest (13) is mounted detachably on the crossbar (113) on theseat (11) and has multiple mounting slots (131) and a footrest (132).The mounting slots (131) are defined transversely through the footrest(13) and are arranged longitudinally. The footrest (132) is detachablymounted perpendicularly in one of the mounting slots (131) in the legrest (13) and may be mounted closer to the seat (11) for smallerchildren and further from the seat (11) for larger children.

The connection assembly (20) is mounted securely on the bottom surfaceof the seat (11) of the seat assembly (10) and has a connection member(21) and a lock (22) and may further have a biasing member.

With further reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, the connection member (21) ismounted on the bottom of the seat (11) and has a bottom, a rear end, twoopposite sidewalls, a longitudinal recess (211) and multiple pairs ofpositioning notches (212).

Each sidewall may be hollow and have a chamber, an inside surface and aguide slot (217). The chamber is defined in the sidewall and has aninner surface. The guide slot (217) is Y-shaped, is defined in the innersurface of the chamber in the sidewall and has two branching slots.

The longitudinal recess (211) is defined in the bottom of the connectionmember (21) between the inside surfaces of the sidewalls.

The positioning notches (212) of each pair are oppositely definedrespectively in the inside surfaces of the sidewalls.

The lock (22) is mounted slidably on the connection member (21), has atop end and a resilient hook (221) and may further have two oppositeabutment tabs (222) mounted on the lock (22). The resilient hook (221)is mounted on the top end of the lock (22) and hooks detachably on thelocking protrusion (121) to lock and hold the backrest (12) in anunfolded position relative to the seat (11). To release the backrest(12), a user pulls back and bends to disengage the resilient hook (221)from the locking protrusion (121) so that the backrest (12) may pivotforward.

The biasing member is resilient and Y-shaped, is mounted slidably in theguide slot (217) and has a biasing branch (214) and a latch branch(215). The biasing branch (214) is curved, extends slidably out of onebranching slot and presses against one of the abutment tabs (222) on thelock (22) to bias the lock (22) in an upper position. The latch branch(215) is straight and extends out of the other branching slot.

The support assembly (30) is retractable, may be a pneumatic cylinderassembly, connects pivotally to the connection member (21) of theconnection assembly (20) and has an outer cylinder (31), an innercylinder (32) and a connecting element.

With further reference to FIG. 7, the outer cylinder (31) is hollow, maybe an inverted T-shape, stands on the ground and has a top end, a bottomend, a mounting hole and two opposite positioning blocks (312) and mayfurther have two opposite friction surfaces (313) and a foot. Themounting hole is defined axially in the top end of the outer cylinder(31). The positioning blocks (312) are formed on and protrude radiallyfrom the outer cylinder (31) near the top end of the outer cylinder(31). The friction surfaces (313) are formed on the outer cylinder (31)respectively adjacent to the positioning blocks (312) and each frictionsurface (313) has multiple friction ribs. The foot is formedtransversely on the bottom end of the outer cylinder (31) and standsstably on the ground.

The inner cylinder (32) is mounted telescopically in the mounting holein the outer cylinder (32) and has a top end.

The connecting element is mounted on the top end of the inner cylinder(32), connects pivotally to the connection member (20) to pivot theinner cylinder (32) and the outer cylinder (31) on the seat (11). Theconnecting element has a pivot member (33) and a positioning member(34).

The pivot member (33) is formed on the connecting member, is mountedsecurely on the top end of the inner cylinder (32) and is mountedrotatably using a pivot pin in the longitudinal recess (211) of theconnection member (20) between the inside surfaces of the sidewalls.

The positioning member (34) is mounted slidably on the connectingelement, is mounted in the recess (211) in the connection member (21),has a rear end, two opposite sides and two opposite positioningprojections (341) and may further have a lever handle (343) when thesupport assembly (30) is a pneumatic cylinder assembly. The positioningprojections (341) are formed oppositely on and protrude respectivelyfrom the sides of the positioning member (34) and correspondrespectively to the pairs of positioning notches (212). Each positioningprojection (341) engages detachably with one of the positioning notches(212) of a corresponding pair of positioning notches (212) to positionthe seat assembly (10) at a specific angle relative to the supportassembly (30). The user may pull and slide the positioning member (34)to disengage the positioning projections (341) from the positioningnotches (212) in the connection member (21) to adjust the angle of theseat assembly (10). Each positioning projection (341) may be heldselectively by one of the latch branches (215) on the biasing members.When the lock (22) is slid down and compresses the biasing members, thelatch branches (215) retract into the guide slots (217) and thepositioning projections (341) are released to allow the support assembly(30) to pivot toward and fold onto the seat (11) of the seat assembly(10). The lever handle (343) connects pivotally to the inner cylinder(32) and may be operated to change a longitudinal position of the innercylinder (32) relative to the outer cylinder (31).

With further reference to FIG. 5, the rear stand assembly (40) isconnected pivotally to the support assembly (30) and may have a linkage(42) and a rear stand (41).

The linkage (42) is connected pivotally to the outer cylinder (31) ofthe support assembly (30) and has a connecting end, an engaging end andan engaging rod. The connecting end connects pivotally to the outercylinder (31). The engaging rod is formed transversely on the engagingend and has two opposite ends.

With further reference to FIG. 6, the rear stand (41) is U-shaped, beingconnected pivotally to the engaging end of the linkage (42) and has twoopposite legs (411). The legs (411) are formed on the rear stand (41)and each leg (411) has an inside surface, a pivot slot and multiplepositioning slots (412). The inside surface may selectively contact oneof the friction surfaces (313) to prevent the legs (411) frominadvertently pivoting. The pivot slot is defined in the inside surfaceof the leg (41), rotatably and detachably holds one end of the engagingrod on the linkage (42) so that the rear stand (41) may pivot on thelinkage (42). The positioning slots (412) are defined in the insidesurface of the leg (411), are arranged longitudinally and one of thepositioning slots (412) engages detachably with one of the positioningblocks (312) to hold the rear stand (41) at a specific angular positionrelative to the support assembly (30).

With reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, when the folding high chair isfolded, the resilient hook (221) of the lock (22) is pulled back andbent to disengage from the locking protrusion (121) and the lock (22) isslid down. Simultaneously, the biasing branch (214) and the latch branch(215) of each biasing member are retracted into the guide slot (217) inthe connection member (21) to release both the backrest (12) and thesupport assembly (30). The backrest (12) and the support assembly (30)pivot toward the seat (11) so that the seat assembly (10) and thesupport assembly (30) are folded substantially parallel to one another,as shown in FIG. 11. Then, the rear stand (41) is detached from theinner cylinder (32). The linkage (42) and rear stand (41) are pivotedsubstantially parallel to the seat assembly (10) and the supportassembly (30), as shown in FIG. 12.

The seat assembly (10), support assembly (30) and rear stand assembly(40) are substantially parallel to one another when the folding highchair is folded. Therefore, the folding high chair may be folded into ahighly compact configuration, convenient for carrying and storage athome or even carried in a vehicle and opened for use in restaurants orother's homes. Furthermore, sliding down the lock (22) simultaneouslyreleases the backrest (12) and the support assembly (30) relative to theseat (11) so that folding the folding high chair is easy, simple andfast.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the presentinvention have been set forth in the foregoing description, togetherwith details of the structure and function of the invention, thedisclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details,especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts withinthe principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by thebroad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

1. A folding high chair comprising: a seat assembly having a seat havingan upper surface, a bottom surface, a front end, a rear end, twoopposite sides and two armrests formed respectively on and protrudingrespectively from the upper surface at the sides; and a backrest beingmounted pivotally on the rear end of the seat, being capable of pivotingforward to fold onto the seat and having a front, a rear, a top end, abottom end connecting pivotally to the rear end of the seat and alocking protrusion being formed on and protruding away from the rear atthe bottom end; a connection assembly being mounted securely on thebottom surface of the seat of the seat assembly and having a connectionmember being mounted on the bottom of the seat and having a bottom; arear end; two opposite sidewalls and each sidewall having an insidesurface; a longitudinal recess defined in the bottom of the connectionmember between the inside surface of the sidewalls; and multiple pairsof positioning notches, and the positioning notches of each pair beingoppositely defined respectively in the inside surfaces of the sidewalls;and a lock being mounted slidably on the connection member and having atop end and a resilient hook mounted on the top end of the lock andhooking detachably on the locking protrusion; a support assembly beingretractable, connecting pivotally to the connection member of theconnection assembly and having an outer cylinder being hollow and havinga top end; a bottom end; a mounting hole being defined axially in thetop end of the outer cylinder; and two opposite positioning blocks beingformed on and protruding radially from the outer cylinder near the topend of the outer cylinder; an inner cylinder mounted telescopically inthe mounting hole of the outer cylinder and having a top end; and aconnecting element mounted on the top end of the inner cylinder,connecting pivotally to the connection member and having a pivot memberformed on the connecting member, being mounted securely on the top endof the inner cylinder and being mounted rotatably in the longitudinalrecess of the connection member between the inside surfaces of thesidewalls; and a positioning member being mounted slidably on theconnecting element, mounted in the recess in the connection member andhaving a rear end, two opposite sides and two opposite positioningprojections formed oppositely on and protruding respectively from thesides of the positioning member and corresponding respectively to thepairs of positioning notches, wherein each positioning projectionengages detachably with one of the positioning notches of acorresponding pair; and a rear stand assembly being connected pivotallyto the support assembly.
 2. The folding high chair as claimed in claim1, wherein the rear stand assembly has a linkage being connectedpivotally to the outer cylinder of the support assembly and having aconnecting end being connected pivotally to the outer cylinder; anengaging end; and an engaging rod formed transversely on the engagingend and having two opposite ends; and a rear stand being U-shaped, beingconnected pivotally to the engaging end of the linkage and having twoopposite legs formed on the rear stand and each leg having an insidesurface; a pivot slot being defined in the inside surface of the leg,rotatably and detachably holding one end of the engaging rod on thelinkage; and multiple positioning slots being defined in the insidesurface of the leg, arranged longitudinally and one of the positioningslots engaging detachably with one of the positioning blocks.
 3. Thefolding high chair as claimed in claim 2, wherein: each sidewall of theconnection member is hollow and further has a chamber defined in thesidewall and having an inner surface; and a guide slot being Y-shaped,defined in the inner surface of the chamber in the sidewall and havingtwo branching slots; the lock of the connection assembly further has twoopposite abutment tabs mounted on the lock; the connection assemblyfurther has a biasing member being resilient and Y-shaped, mountedslidably in the guide slot and having a biasing branch being curved,extending slidably out of one branching slot and pressing against one ofthe abutment tabs on the lock to bias the lock in an upper position; anda latch branch being straight and extending out of the other branchingslot; and each positioning projection of the positioning member of theconnecting element is held selectively by one of the latch branches onthe biasing members.
 4. The folding high chair as claimed in claim 3,wherein: the outer cylinder further has two opposite friction surfacesformed on the outer cylinder respectively adjacent to the positioningblocks and each friction surface having multiple friction ribs; and theinside surface of each leg of the rear stand selectively contacts one ofthe friction surfaces.
 5. The folding high chair as claimed in claim 3,wherein the outer cylinder further has a foot formed transversely on thebottom end of the outer cylinder.
 6. The folding high chair as claimedin claim 3, wherein: the seat further has a crossbar mounted on thebottom of the seat near the front end; and the seat assembly further hasa leg rest mounted detachably on the crossbar on the seat and hasmultiple mounting slots being defined transversely through the footrestand arranged longitudinally; and a footrest being detachably mountedperpendicularly in one of the mounting slots in the leg rest.